THE REHEARSAL || The idea of the shoot came from a conversation I had with Luuk Melisse, a student of the Jazz/Musical department of the Amsterdam School of Arts in the Netherlands. I loved the idea of capturing him while rehearsing. So we met on a sunday afternoon in a training studio at his school, put on some music to which he started dancing and I took photographs, capturing random moments of him in motion in a rather voyeuristic way. Capturing a raw energy, the emotion and struggle dancers go through while preparing for a performance. Both physically and mentally.

With my own personal background in studying animation at the Academy of Arts in Tilburg I have always been fascinated with movement and dance. I remember taping music videos, freeze-framing the videotape and sketching different poses and choreography. I love the sense of control dancers have over their body and the way they handle it in combination with the music. I liked the idea of somehow showing the inner battle a dancer goes through while pushing his body and mind to achieve his goals and reach utter perfection. The complete dedication of getting every aspect just right. The mirror is a visual handle to illustrate how a dancer combats both his own physique and physical limitations as well as his mind and any mental limitations he might place on himself.